Many villages in northern Kerala annually perform their own unique version of a ritual event that is loosely known as Teyyam. For a few days a year, men from low castes don make-up and costumes and, as the gods they come to represent, are worshipped by the priests and villagers. Each festival involves remarkable spectacles such as trance dances, fire-walking, and legendary reenactments that can last all night. Most striking of all, however, are the elaborate headdresses: made over several days out of flowers and bamboo, some are over ten feet tall and often the exhauasted actors require assistants to help support the weight.